


Just Like That

by apple_pi



Category: The Lord of the Rings RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-05-25
Updated: 2005-11-12
Packaged: 2018-07-27 12:43:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7618540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apple_pi/pseuds/apple_pi





	1. Chapter 1

“Hello?”

“…Hey, it’s me. Dom.”

Slight snort. “I know.”

…

“How was your flight?”

“Ehm… okay, I guess. Food was shite, but nothing new there.”

“Yeah. Slept any?”

“Done nothing but sleep.”

“Good. Not too jetlagged then.”

“No.”

…

“So. Margaret alright?”

“Dominic.”

“…What?”

“Perhaps you’d like the tell me what that was at the airport.”

“…Big thing? White? With blue on the back? That was a plane, Bill.”

Another snort. “Try again.”

“Hm. Square thing? With a handle? Black? That was your suitcase. And you need a new one, Bills, it’s as old as that fugly jacket you wear every—”

“In the carpark. The thing with your mouth on my mouth and your tongue _in_ my mouth, and your hands, if I recall correctly, on my arse. That thing. Tell me what _that_ thing was.”

“Oh, that? That was a goodbye kiss.”

“Dom, we’ve said goodbye to each other what, thirty times? Forty times? A hundred times? And I have to say, it’s hardly ever left me with a hard-on.”

“…That gave you a hard-on?”

“I assume that’s what you meant it to do.”

“And what do you mean, _hardly ever_? Have I given you an erection before, Billy?”

“Dom, shut the fuck up and tell me why you did that!”

…

“…I just. I wanted to. That’s all.”

“Just then. Just like that.”

“Yes, just then, just like that. Or—wait. No. I mean—I wanna go back to _hardly ever_.”

“No. Why just then?”

…

“Not just then. Not just like that.”

“But you did! It _was_ just like that! You’ve never done anything like that before, Dom—I’m pretty sure my mouth and I would’ve remembered!”

“Are you angry at me?”

“Yes! Well—no. I don’t know? Maybe. You threw me for a loop, Dom. Were you bored? Taking the piss? Did you want to make me angry? Are you madly in love with me? What?”

…

“That last one.”

…

“What do you want from me, Dom?”

“…Another kiss?”

“Do you have to make a joke every fucking minute? You’re killing me here! Why did you—why haven’t you— _are you taking the piss right this minute?_ ”

“Calm down, calm down, Bills. Calm down.” Deep breath. “I’m not taking the piss.”

“Are you telling me you’re—oh my god. Are you saying you _like_ me?”

“Fuck me, Billy, what is this, third form? No, I’m not saying I _like_ you. I’m saying I love you.”

A long silence, and the sound of breathing.

“Why didn’t you say something before? We’ve known each other for a long time now.”

“I don’t know. It wasn’t… easy. You’re not easy, y’know?”

“I’m the easiest person in the world. Wait, strike that. I’m the easiest-going—most easy-going— _shit!_ You know what I mean!”

“You’re the most easy-going person I know, but you’re certainly not the easiest person I’ve ever loved, Billy.” And a sound, one that made Billy’s stomach lurch in an entirely unpleasant way: a tremor in Dom’s voice.

Inhale. “Well… how long? How long have you… y’know.”

“A long time. Forever. But I was chickenshit, and then there was Ali. And you were happy.”

“Yeah.”

“But then she, and you, and that whole thing… and so I waited a while, just to see how you were, but you seem okay without her, and then I thought, _What the hell_.”

“That’s how you make the decision to declare your love? _What the hell_?” 

“Don’t laugh, arsehole.”

“Sorry. I’m still… processing.”

“It took a lot of nerve for me to work myself up to kiss you, you ingrate.”

“…I bet it did.”

…

“Don’t.” Dom inhaled sharply.

“Don’t what?”

“Nothing. Sorry.” _Don’t be so goddamn nice_.

“Alright. What should I say?”

An audible swallow. “Your call. I’m sorry I freaked you out, though. And if you don’t want to say anything, and sort of pretend I never did it, that’s alright.”

A laugh, a sort of snorting giggle abruptly choked off.

“What? I’m serious, Bill. You wanna forget about it, we’ll forget about it. I’ve been pretending I didn’t… feel this way… for a long time.”

“I don’t think I can forget about it. And I don’t think you should have to pretend anymore.”

“…Okay? So then—what? What should we… you… do?”

“I don’t know. I wish you hadn’t snogged me senseless right before I got on a plane, though.”

“Oh, you can think of a better time?”

“I just wish we were having this conversation face-to-face, that’s all.”

“Oh.”

Another long silence, and then:

“Bill?”

“Yeah?”

“What did you mean by _hardly ever_?”

“Ehm… What?”

“Earlier you said we’ve said goodbye a lot of times, but it’s hardly ever left you with a hard-on.”

“Did I?”

“William Boyd.”

“Och, I knew that would come back and bite me in the arse as soon as my stupid mouth let it out.”

“Billy.”

“Nothing. I mean—just. I don’t know.”

“Billy, I got my knickers all in a twist, nerved myself up, bared my soul and kissed you as well as I know how, and now you can’t even form a coherent sentence to tell me what you meant?”

“…It was a good kiss?”

“Thank you. It was also nineteen hours ago, so stop fucking around and tell me.”

“Well… Christ. Just—I’d no idea you’d ever even thought of me as more than a friend, a mate, Dom. But away back… then. Well. Yeah. I’ve been attracted to you before. That’s all.”

“Back then. In New Zealand, you mean?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you ever do anything about it?”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Touché. But fuck, Billy—oh, never mind.”

“What?”

“I wish you’d said something before, is all.”

“Yeah. Well, now I kinda wish I had, too.”

…

“Say that again?”

“I just—the whole Alison thing—and I always wondered if I didn’t sort of… settle for her. Which is a wretched thing to say, Dom, and I know it, and I’ll thank you never to remind me that I said it, because she deserves far better.”

“Settle down, there, Bills, don’t bite my head off. Yeah, she does. And so do you and so do I. But you seem to be forgetting something.”

“What?”

“She’s gone now. You’re single. And I’m single. And now you know I love you.”

A deep breath, quick and unsteady. 

“So what do you think that means, Dom?”

“I think the ball is squarely in your court.” Dom’s voice was firm. “I’ve done my share of the work.”

“Ah. Ehm. Well, yes, that seems fair.”

…

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“Jesus fucking Christ, Billy, you can be such an arsehole sometimes. If you don’t want to be with me, just say so and get it over with and we’ll fucking well move on. I can’t believe you don’t even have the balls to just—”

“It’s hard, Dom.”

“Well I know it’s hard, d’you think it was easy for me? To think about what I wanted to do for your whole visit, and not do it, and then wait, and then screw myself up to it at the—”

“No, I mean, it’s hard because you’re not here, in front of me.”

“What does that have to do anything? Just fucking say it, Bill, Jesus, I’m—”

“Well, I can’t just kiss you.”

“—fucking dying over h-here—what?”

“You’re not right in front of me, so I can’t just kiss you. You had an unfair advantage, you know, being able to use a kiss, then letting me stew over it for about three thousand years and a trans-Atlantic flight, and then pretending you’d no idea what I was talking about. Doesn’t seem quite right, some—”

“Billy, shut it.” Billy did. “Now. What?”

“Well, y’see, Dom, it’s not an even playing field. You set the standard of declaring feelings, and you kissed me. But now I have to declare my feelings over the phone, and frankly I think that’s very unfair. Because if I was there, I’d be able to just kiss you.”

…

“Just now? Just like that?”

A sigh. “No. No, Dom, not just now. Not just like that.”

...

“I—fuck, Billy, hold on.”

“I’m not waiting as long for you as you did for me.”

“Christ—” The sound of a choking laugh, and then, muffled, Dom blowing his noise. “Alright. Back.”

“Alright?”

“Yeah. Just. Y’know.”

“Welcome to my world, Dominic.”

And two men, laughing.

“Just now? Just like that?”

“Just now. Just like that.”


	2. Like That There

Billy hung up an hour and sixteen minutes later. He noticed his feet hurt one minute after that, and sat down five seconds after noticing it—slid right down against the wall where he was, on the hall carpet, between the lounge and the kitchen, and let his feet slide out from under him, legs straight, feet pointed to ten and two. Trainer toes in the air, and he looked at them for a minute or so, then at the pale light coming through the windows. He listed to one side to read the clock in the lounge: 9:48 in the morning, the weather outside cold and grey, December in Glasgow.

He yawned and stretched, craning his head from side to side until he got that satisfying _crack_ and some of the tension eased. The phone was still in his hand, and he looked at it and thought about calling Margaret. She’d be at the shop, about to open. He always called when he got back into town. 

He put the phone down, though. He couldn’t quite face the idea of having the damned thing pressed to his ear for one more instant, at least not quite yet. He’d call Margaret in a bit.

He could see his bags where he’d dropped them, too, by the front door. The phone had rung as he’d stepped through the door, and he’d known, _known_ who it was. Hadn’t needed the name on the little glowy screen, he’d just known. It had happened before, hadn’t it? Dom just knew, somehow. Knew when Billy would step through the door, knew when he’d got somewhere. Always called at the right moment, or skidded through the door, grinning, just in time. Ready to rescue Billy, or entertain him at the least. Sometimes at the most, and Billy missed him every time they were apart, so why hadn’t he figured it out earlier?

He’d figured it out now.

He picked up the mobile and dialed.

“Hey, I got home safe. Yeah. It was good. It was—it was great. I think I’m going back soon, yeah. Christ, tell me about it, Honolulu or Glasgow, no contest is it? ... Yeah, knackered. I’ll call you later. I may not be home for long, got some things going on. I’ll let you know. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, me, too. Okay, love you. Bye.”

“Only one more call,” he promised the empty house, thumbing his way through the phone book of his mobile. 

“Hi, this is Billy Boyd. Yes, how are you? Yes, everything was fine. The thing is, I’m going to have to go back really soon. I know, it’s madness, innit? What’s today? Okay, then. So. Christmas here, so let’s make the next flight out on the twenty-eighth. Yeah, just one of those things. Need to be here with my sister for the holiday, but I just need to go right back. Mm-hmm. Oh, really? Yeah, any discount you want to grab for me, you know the Frequent Flyer number and all. Thanks, Claire. No, no. Thank you, and happy holidays. —Yeah, just e-mail the confirmation and all that to me. Thanks. Bye.”

Billy closed the phone with a snap and sighed. He’d have eight days here—just enough time to get well and truly over the time difference—and then he’d go back. Because yeah, he really did need to go right back. And it really was madness, and Billy was so tired he could barely remember his own name, but he remembered Dom’s and yeah. He’d go back and give Dom that kiss, see if he could really curl his toes. He missed him already—he always had—but they were so close, now.

“So close,” he murmured, and let his eyes slide shut. “We’ll make it.”

Amazing, really, how everything could change, just like that.


End file.
